


every heart in the room will melt

by afire



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F, basically what if mal and evie went back to the isle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-12 02:45:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12949611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afire/pseuds/afire
Summary: Outside, she can hear shouting, the breaking of glass on wood, and Mal’s just about to get up and yell at everyone to shut up when, next to her, Evie shifts.“Mal?”“I’m right here, princess,” Mal says, voice soft as she wriggles back under the covers, making sure Evie’s getting her fair share. “Sorry, did I wake you up?”(or: mal and evie return to the isle)





	every heart in the room will melt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DangerCW](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DangerCW/gifts).



> Special thanks to [@sexshark](http://sexshark.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr for sponsoring this fic!

_(She’s running, running, running, but she can’t quite catch up, she’ll never catch up._

_There are footsteps echoing behind her, thundering across the wet ground._

_She’s running, running, running, and then she trips-)_

 

**…**

 

Mal wakes with a start, jolting up into a sitting position and grabbing at the blanket that’s twisted around her waist. Moonlight is filtering in through the cracked window, littering the floor with shadows, and the half-broken clock on the table next to her says that it’s just a little past two in the morning.

Outside, she can hear shouting, the breaking of glass on wood, and Mal’s just about to get up and yell at everyone to shut up when, next to her, Evie shifts.

“Mal?”

“I’m right here, princess,” Mal says, voice soft as she wriggles back under the covers, making sure Evie’s getting her fair share. “Sorry, did I wake you up?”

“It’s alright, I was already awake.” It’s an obvious lie, because Evie’s eyes are still half-closed, and Mal can tell she’s holding back a yawn. All the same, it feels nice to be coddled every once in awhile, behind closed doors where no one can see and her street cred isn’t tarnished.

Evie is looking more awake now, blinking the sleepiness away as she hoists herself up to lean against the headboard next to Mal, absentmindedly reaching over to intertwine their fingers. “Are you okay?”

Mal sighs, slumping over to the left to rest her head on Evie’s shoulder. “I’m fine,” she says, pausing for a second before continuing on, knowing that she’d never be able to lie to her best friend, “just had a nightmare.”

“The same one?” Evie’s voice is laced with concern, soft and warm as she squeezes Mal’s hand once, gently. “Where you’re running?”

The people outside the window have moved on, and, for now, the room is quiet. Mal nods because she can’t bear to break the silence, knowing that Evie can feel the movement against her neck. For a moment, it’s just the both of them, breathing softly into the dark.

“What are you running from, Mal?”

And here, Mal could say so many things: Auradon, the Isle, everything she left behind when she decided to come back. But she doesn’t, she can’t, because for all her bravado, Mal doesn’t know. She doesn’t know what she’s running from, she doesn’t know why she’s having these nightmares, and most of all she doesn’t know how to get them to stop.

Evie seems to understand, because she doesn't wait for a reply. Instead, she tugs Mal gently back down onto the bed, pulling the covers neatly over the both of them. “It’s okay, I’m right here.” She leans over to press a gentle kiss to Mal’s forehead. “You have nothing to be afraid of.”

Outside, the air is cold, and biting, and lonely, but in here, with Evie’s arm slung across her waist, Mal feels safe, and happy, and warm.

 

**/**

 

The next time Mal awakes, it’s to the sound of someone shuffling around the room, moving things around as if they’re looking for something. She yawns once before sitting up, stretching out her arms until she hears a pop before settling back against the headboard. On the other side of the room, Evie is rustling through what looks to be an old crate. Mal can’t remember what used to be in there.

“What are you looking for?” Evie jumps, hand flying to her heart, and Mal can’t help but chuckle. “Sorry,” she intones, grinning when Evie shoots her an overdramatic glare. “Why are you up so early, anyway?”

“I’m still on-” Evie cuts herself off, eyes darting to the corner of the room. “The sun woke me up,” she says, in the end, gesturing to the window. True enough, sunlight is filtering in through the cracks, and Evie’s side of the bed is painted a deep, golden yellow.

“You could’ve just moved to your own bed.” Mal nods toward the object in question, tucked into a shady corner of the room.

Evie shrugs, straightening up as she dusts her hands off. “It’s fine, I was already awake, anyway.”

Mal rolls out of bed with a thump, pulling up onto the tips of her toes in another stretch before padding slowly over to where Evie’s standing and peering into the crate. “What were you looking for?”

“Just some old materials I left here,” Evie frowns, hands coming to rest on her hips, and Mal can’t help but smile at the familiarity of the action. Wherever they are - be it here on the Isle, or back in Auradon - Evie’s always been her one constant, her security blanket in the face of chaos, and Mal is so, so thankful that, in spite of everything that has happened, and will happen, Evie will always be here for her.

“Why don’t we go ask Dizzy if she came by and got them?”

Evie perks up, eyes brightening. “That’s a good idea! My scrapbook is over there as well, and I’m sure she’s made some new hairpieces since our last visit, oh, we’ll have to help nurture her creative spirit, and …” She trails off as she wanders away, and Mal is left standing there, hands stuffed in her pockets, and a giant smile on her face.

“Mal, come on!”

“Alright, alright, I’m coming, don’t get your hair in a tangle.”

 

**/**

 

Curl Up & Dye is, remarkably, still standing. What with all the machines, and the constant explosions, and the fact that at least three different vats of suspicious substances are dangerously close to boiling over whenever Mal pays the shop a visit, she thought the whole thing would’ve collapsed by now.

“Evie!” Dizzy comes flying out of the back room, flinging the broom she’s holding to the side so she can jump into Evie’s arms. They spin around a couple of times as Mal picks her way over to them, careful not to step in any unknown liquid that may or may not be burning through the floor.

She busies herself with looking around as the two other girls dissolve into a conversation about materials and hairpieces and colour palettes that Mal would definitely not be able to follow. It’s only when Evie calls her name that she looks up, moving closer.

“What’s up?”

“Mal, we have space in the loft for more people, right?”

“Uh, I guess?” Technically speaking, there’s space for a lot more people, now that it’s only Mal and Evie who are sleeping there. Even when Jay and Carlos were here with them, they always had more space than they needed. The only reason why no one else was invited to stay with them was because, back then, Mal had hated everyone but Evie, Jay and Carlos. Truth be told, she still does, a little bit. “Why?”

“Dizzy’s still sleeping in the back of the shop,” Evie says morosely, reaching out to pull the smaller girl toward her. “We can let her bunk with us right?”

Mal hesitates, looking toward Dizzy, who’s staring at the ground, feet shuffling back and forth. “Well,” she sighs, “I suppose it can’t hurt.”

Evie smiles, bright and beautiful, and Mal feels a shot of warmth spread through her entire body, all the way to her fingertips.

Dizzy tugs on her sleeve and she looks down questioningly. “Yeah?”

“Well, um, I just-”

“Spit it out, Dizzy.”

“I have a couple of friends who don’t really have a place to sleep either,” she says quickly, gaze dropping back down to the floor. “And I used to let them into the shop at night so they’d at least have a roof over their heads.”

Mal doesn’t even need to look at Evie to know what she’s going to ask next, so she just pats Dizzy gently on the shoulder. “Yeah, sure, bring them along, too.”

This is definitely her good deed of the year.

 

**/**

 

When Dizzy said she had a couple of friends, Mal had assumed she’d be playing host to two or three other people. Right now, there are at least six kids on her doorstep, not including Dizzy herself, who’s closing up Curl Up & Dye before coming over.

Evie, for her part, looks delighted.

“Hey everyone! Come on in! Yes, you too, come on, let’s go.”

Mal’s still standing at the bottom of the stairs when Dizzy arrives, carrying not only her bag but also Evie’s scrapbook of designs. She grins at Mal on her way up and Mal can’t do anything but shake her head and follow Dizzy up to the loft.

Evie’s already got everyone settled on the floor, where they seem to be halfway through introductions. Dizzy hops over to join them while Mal hangs back, content with just observing. Evie’s brilliant with the kids, talking slowly and softly so as not to frighten them, especially since most of them are still quite easily startled.

Mal knows how they feel, remembers _being_ them, once upon a time, when she had nothing but the clothes on her back and her mother’s scathing words for company. She’d been a scrappy young thing once, prone to lashing out, constantly existing in the liminal space between fight and flight. She hadn’t calmed down until she met Evie, gentle even back then, with the prettiest eyes Mal had ever seen.

Evie had grounded her in a way that no one else had, brought her back down to Earth and taught her that violence wasn’t the answer to everything, bandaging up Mal’s knuckles and kissing them better, promising that she’d always be there, that she’d never leave.

Mal had never known the concept of forever, not before Evie, and even then, it had been foreign, something she didn’t understand. People used you, and then they left; that was how the Isle worked. But Evie, darling girl, she had stayed through everything, through all of Mal’s temper tantrums and the occasional breakdown. Through Auradon, and everything that had come with that.

It had been nice, waking up in a proper bed without having to wonder if any of their stuff was stolen in the night, not having to worry about what their next meal was going to be. Evie had been in her element, the princess inside her taking to life in Auradon like a duck to water. Mal had watched her grow, and flourish, and fit in, as easily as ever.

As for herself, well, Mal had felt tied down, as if she were a puppet controlled by invisible strings, by all these rules that she could barely get her head around. Dating Ben had come with its own set of guidelines to follow, and Mal just couldn’t keep up. The rigidity of it all, how everything came with a schedule and she could no longer sleep in til two in the afternoon, or go to bed after the sun had risen. It boxed her in, made her feel as if she was trapped in a prison of her own making. Mal had braved through it only because Evie was so happy, content in the knowledge that her best friend was thriving.

And then there was Cotillion, and suddenly everything was multiplied tenfold. There were cameras following her everywhere, people asking her about colors and placemats and everything else that she wanted nothing to do with. It was noisy, and loud, and _suffocating_ and Mal was drowning in it.

But Evie, oh, she was the happiest she’d ever been, between making outfits and going to class, she barely even had time to feel sad. And so Mal had left, alone, because _how_ could she ask Evie to go with her? It was unthinkable, dragging her best friend away from this little haven, back to the Isle. Mal couldn’t do it.

She hadn’t counted on the fact that Evie would come after her, hadn’t even dared to imagine that she would _stay_ , in this world that she’d been so desperate to escape. Mal had almost cried, looking at this brave, brave girl who would follow her to the ends of the Earth. She doesn’t deserve it, this undying loyalty, Mal is not the kind of girl who deserves something so pure and whole, but it’s hers, and she’ll cherish it forever.

Looking at Evie now, gathering the kids up and assigning them places to sleep, Mal can’t help but feel like she’s twelve again, accidentally stumbling into a tiny blue-haired girl with the biggest smile and inadvertently changing her entire life in the process.

She wouldn’t take it back for the world.

 

**/**

 

The kids are all exhausted, and they fall asleep pretty quickly. Mal’s just happy that no one kicked up a fuss about having to bunk on the same couch as their friends. She supposes it’s a lot better than sleeping on the streets, all things considered.

“They’re all so young,” Evie says quietly, crossing the room to sit next to Mal on the floor, “I wonder where their parents are.”

“Who cares?” Mal shrugs, watching as Dizzy rolls over into one of the other girls. “They’re gone, these kids are alone now.”

“Not anymore,” Evie shifts, leaning into Mal, “they’ve got us now.” She pauses before continuing, speaking slower. “They’ve got us now, right?”

Mal glances around, looking at all the empty couches that are now full, remembering how she felt when she met Evie, all those years ago. These children deserve better than they’ve got, and if Mal can help give them that, then she will. “Yeah, they’ve got us now.”

She can’t help but remember Ben, standing in the middle of his office in Auradon, proudly proclaiming that he’s going to try his best to help everyone on the Isle make a better life for themselves. He had good intentions, but Mal always knew it wasn’t going to happen. At least, not for _everyone_. Ben would try his best, but he’s never lived on the Isle, and he doesn’t know, will never know, how it feels to be here.

Ben will never be able to make a lasting difference because he will never know how to.

And Mal misses him, of course she does, but she misses him in the same way she misses Jay and Carlos. That is to say, she misses him like she would miss a friend. It’s taken her a while to realize, but Mal never loved Ben, not in the way everyone thought she did. Ben was convenient, and being close to him made it easy to steal the wand, and when it turned out that she didn’t actually want to steal the wand, it was just less of a hassle if she went along with the relationship.

It dawns on Mal now that leaving Ben, Jay, and Carlos had been difficult, but still doable. They’re her friends, and she would miss them, but staying on Auradon any longer would have broken her, and she knew she had to leave.

Mal hadn’t realized the feeling that she’d left something behind was, in fact, her heart aching at the distance she was putting between herself and Evie until her best friend had shown up, a determined frown on her face as she insisted that she stayed.

“Hey, Mal?”

“Hmm?”

Evie sits up so she can look at Mal properly, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she works herself up to say what’s on her mind. “Do you … well, have you figured out why you’re having those nightmares?” Mal doesn’t answer right away, and Evie keeps talking. “The ones where you’re running from something?”

And denial is on the tip of her tongue, it is, but Mal looks at Evie, really looks at her, and something clicks. Something that’s been trying to claw its way out for a long time. Something that feels a lot like love, the all-encompassing, lifelong, soulmate kind of love. And Mal wants to hit herself upside the head for taking this long to realize it.

“I’m not running away from anything,” Mal says slowly, measuring out her words carefully, because she’s never been very good at expressing herself, verbally or otherwise. “I’m running toward something.” She takes a deep breath, gaze down on her lap where her fingers are twisting together, a nervous tell that she has. “I’m running to you.”

There’s silence except for the soft snuffling coming from the other side of the room, where the children are all sleeping. Tonight, there’s no one creating a ruckus outside their window, and Mal finds herself wishing for a shout, or the crack of a broken bottle, anything that can serve as a distraction in the aftermath of her disastrous confession.

“Mal.”

“It’s fine, can we just pretend I didn’t sa-”

“Mal, look at me.”

And so Mal looks, because she’s never been able to say no to Evie, and probably never will.

Evie’s smile is soft, and her eyes are bright. “Mal, I’m right here.” She leans in, close enough that Mal can see each individual eyelash. “I’ve always been right here.”

Mal kisses her because there’s really nothing else she can do in that moment. Evie’s arms come to rest around her shoulders, and Mal wants to stay here forever, tucked into a corner with the girl she loves, the world falling silent around them.

“You too?” Mal asks quietly, still a little uncertain, still unsure if they’re on the same page.

Evie simply laughs, low, and happy, and warm. “I have loved you,” she says, punctuating each word with a kiss, “for so long.”

“Oh,” Mal blushes, tumbling forward to hide her face in Evie’s shoulder. “The feeling is mutual, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“I mean,” Mal leans back, making a show of exaggerated debate for just one moment before she breaks into a grin, “I love you too, E. Sorry it took me so long to realize.”

Evie shrugs, pulling Mal in for a hug. “For you, I would’ve waited forever.”

And yeah, this is her life now. She’s back on the Isle of the Lost, possibly the new foster mother to seven orphaned children, and will most likely catch a lot of flak from all her old friends that are still here. But Mal doesn’t care, because she’s got Evie, and being here with Evie is better than being anywhere else without her.

 

**…**

 

_(She’s running, running, running, and the figure in front of her stops, turns around._

_The footsteps that are echoing behind her disappear._

_“Right here, Mal, I’m right here.”_

_She’s running, running, running, and now she’s finally home.)_

**Author's Note:**

> What's up, you can find me [@underwcrlds](https://taylorswift.co.vu) on Tumblr where I post fic snippets and take requests. 
> 
> In the meantime, happy holidays! Hope y'all have a good one.


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